IB 


8081'UWIW 
"A  N  '9<n9BJAS 


•sojg 


REPORT 


HAS.  A   WET  MOKE, 


SPECIAL    I   .    S.    COMMISSION  KK 


MISSION    INDIANS 


SOUTHERN    CALIFORNIA 


.CI5W5 


WASH  1  NOT  ON: 
GOVERNMENT    PRINTING   OFFIOK 
1875. 


/• 


/ 


in 


WASHINGTON,  D.  0.,  January  9,  1875. 

SIR  :  I  bave  the  honor  to  report  concerning  the  condition  and  neces 
sities  of  the  Mission  Indians  of  Southern  California,  as  follows: 

In  accordance  with  instructions  received.  I  have  visited  those  por 
tions  of  California  in  which  these  Indians  live;  have  observed  their 
present  mode  of  life  as  compared  with  the  past ;  have  investigated  care 
fully  conflicts  which  have  arisen  between  them  and  the  whites  respect 
ing  settlements  on  the  public  lands,  and  on  private  land-grants;  have 
noted  the  results  of  these  conflicts,  together  with  the  effect  of  white 
settlements  upon  their  morals  ;  have  endeavored  to  ascertain  the  causes 
of  all  general  conflicts  with  the  whites,  and  of  their  degrading  habits  ; 
have  consulted  white  citizens  whose  contact  in  life  with  these  Indians 
renders  their  experience  valuable  in  attempting  to  devise  plans  for  the 
benefit  of  the  Indians,  as  well  as  also  of  the  whites,  whose  interests  and 
home-life  are  affected  by  the  presence  and  habits  of  the  Indians;  and 
have,  I  trust,  devised  some  plans  by  which,  if  approved  and  carried 
into  effect,  both  the  Indian  and  the  white  communities  will  be  materi 
ally  advanced,  morally  and  physically,  in  their  several  and  relative  con 
ditions. 

To  arrive  at  a  true  understanding  of  the  character  of  these  Indians, 
their  present  condition  and  wants,  will  require  at  least  a  brief  review 
of  their  past  history.  This  history  has  been  to  me,  not  only  during  sev 
eral  years  of  my  life  in  Southern  California,  but  also  since  I  have  been 
compelled,  through  my  relations  with  the  press,  to  investigate  the  "  In 
dian  question,"  full  of  interest  and  instruction,  with  power  to  fascinate, 
when  in  romantic  mood,  and  with  food  for  serious  thought,  shedding  light 
upon  cloudy  discussions  concerning  an  important  branch  of  government. 

1.  The  era  of  missionary  establishments. — A  little  more  than  one  hun 
dred  years  ago  the  Indians  of  California  (Alta  California)  were  living 
in  aboriginal  condition.  No  encroachments  had  yet  been  made  upon 
their  rights  or  savage  liberties.  Farther  south,  on  the  peninsula  of 
Lower  California,  (Baja  California,)  Jesuit  missions  had  been  established 
in  a  few  places,  but  with  what  success  we  are  not  informed.  They  were 
broken  up  before  the  period  of  which  this  paragraph  treats.  At  that 
time  was  the  dawn  of  civilized  life  upon  the  present  State  of  California, 
the  beginning  of  its  written  history. 

The  Jesuit  missionaries  having  been  expelled  from  Lower  California 
by  order  of  the  King  of  Spain,  Father  Junipero  Serra,  of  the  order  of 
St.  Francis,  from  the  college  of  San  Fernando,  Mexico,  was  placed  in 
command  of  the  brig  San  Antonio,  and  invested  with  full  authority  to 
explore  the  coast  to  the  north,  or  what  was  then  known  as  Nueve  Cali 
fornia,  and  to  establish  missions  among  the  native  Indian  population. 
A  detailed  account  of  the  explorations,  thrilling  adventures,  patient  de 
votion,  and  successful  works  of  the  Franciscan  fathers,  would  be  full  of 
interest  to  any  person  desiring  to  study  the  mode  by  which  they  obtained 
1  w  9 


control  of  the  Indian  tribes  and  held  them  with  sncli  a  powerful  and 
peaceful  sway.  Their  work  extended  through  such  a  long  period  of 
years  that  an  opportunity  is  afforded,  through  the  diaries  and  reports  of 
the  missionaries,  to  note  the  slowly,  yet  surely,  changing  condition  of 
the  Indians  under  their  charge.  An  exhaustive  review  of  their  writings, 
which  may  be  found  in  various  places  and  might  be  collated  by  some 
industrious  writer,  would  reveal  the  secrets  of  their  success  in  man 
aging,  civilizing,  and  pacificating  Indians,  most  of  such  success  being  due 
to  the  wisdom  of  their  policy  in  governing  them. 

On  the  16th  of  July>  1769,  more  than  a  century  ago,  the  first  mission 
was  established  in  Alta  California  at  Cosoy,  as  the  Indians  there  called 
the  present  site  of  the  city  of  San  Diego.  A  few  years  later  it  was  re 
moved  to  a  point  five  miles  from  the  bay  of  San  Diego  and  established 
permanently  at  Nipaquay,  now  only  known  as  the  Mission  Valley. 
Twenty-one  missions  were  established  within  the  present  limits  of  the 
State  of  California  and  many  others  further  south,  in  Lower  California. 

The  following  is  a  list  of  those  established  in  Southern  California, 
with  dates  of  foundation  : 

San  Diego,  July  1C,  1709. 

San  Luis  Bey  de  Francia,  June  13,  1798. 

San  Juan  Capistrano,  November  1,  1776. 

San  Gabriel,  September  8,  1771. 

San  Fernando  Key,  September  8,  1797. 

San  Buenaventura,  March  31,  1782. 

Santa  Barbara,  December  4,  1782. 

Santa  Ynez,  September  17,  1804. 

La  Purissiuia  Concepcion,  December  8,  1787. 

These  names  are  given  with  reference  to  relative  geographical  position 
going  north  from  San  Diego.  None  of  the  mission  establishments 
were  situated  more  than  thirty  miles  from  the  Pacific  coast.  Most  of 
them  were  in  the  principal  and  most  fertile  valleys  near  the  ocean.  The 
most  northerly  one  was  San  Francisco  de  Solano,  (now  Sonoma.)  near 
Sail  Francisco,  to  the  north  of  the  bay. 

The  missionaries  were  performing  a  semi-religious,  semi-political  work, 
aided  by  the  authority  and  power  of  Spain.  They  gradually  assumed 
control  of  the  entire  coast.  The  Indians  were,  by  degrees,  brought 
under  subjection,  and  gathered  in  towns  in  the  vicinity  of  the  missions, 
where  they  were  instructed  in  a  rude  system  of  agriculture,  and  in  a  few 
of  the  arts  necessary  vto  the  lowest  grades  of  civilized  life.  Vast  areas 
of  the  most  fertile  and  best  grazing  lands  were  informally  dedicated  to 
the  use  of  the  missions,  and  held  as  common  property  by  the  neophytes 
under  the  direction  and  trusteesliip  of  the  missionaries.  It  was  the 
aim  of  the  Spanish  government  to  construct  out  of  this  system  perma 
nent  churches  or  parishes,  and  ultimately  to  divide  the  common  prop 
erty  in  severalty  among  the  neophyte  Indians,  as  soon  as  sufficiently 
educated  and  civilized  to  constitute  quiet  and  industrious  self-sup 
porting  citizens.  In  this  plan,  and  in  its  weakness,  as  subsequently 
shown,  we  see  foreshadowed  our  present  reservation-system.  They 
had  the  advantage  of  a  fixed  policy  on  the  part  of  the  missionaries, 
and  a  fixed  purpose,  unaffected  by  change  in  office  of  the  missionaries 
in  charge ;  but  their  reservations  of  laud,  which  were  the  foundation 
of  their  prosperity  and  progress,  were  subject  to  change,  "restora 
tion  to  the  public  domain77  and  sale  by  the  Government,  just  as  the 
reservations  of  to-day  in  the  United  States  are  the  subject  of  execu 
tive  order.  It  was  true  then,  as  it  is  undeniably  now,  that  whenever 
a  white  desires  to  own  anything,  especially  land,  which  is  in  possession 


3 

of  an  Indian,  if  it  is  within  the  power  of  Government  to  take  away  the 
possessions  of  the  Indian  and  give  them  to  the  importunate  white  ap 
plicant,  some  pretext  will  be  found  to  excuse  the  wrong,  which  is  al 
most  invariably  perpetrated.  The  weakness  in  the  system,  then,  was  in 
the  failure  of  the  missionaries  to  secure  vested  rights  for  the  Indians, 
who  exchanged  for  such  rights  as  they  did  receive  the  occupation  and 
use  of  the  whole  country.  Indians  then,  as  now,  received  limited  pos 
sessions  under  subjection  as  an  exchange  for  their  wide  hunting-grounds, 
with  a  promise  of  protection,  instruction,  and  the  benefits  of  civilization; 
but  those  rights  were  not  secured  to  them  in  fee,  and  the  result  was,  as 
is  now  too  often  the  case,  when  their  lauds  became  valuable  and  cov 
eted  by  whites,  they  were  speedily  made  paupers  and  vagrants  to  ac 
commodate  the  white  brother,  whose  laws  had  been  promised  for  their 
protection  and  improvement.  The  Indians  have  been  forced  by  supe 
rior  power  to  trade  their  patrimony  and  their  liberties  for  civilized  bub 
bles,  blown  by  the  breath  of  political  insincerity,  trading  by  compulsion 
from  bad  to  worse,  until  they  have,  as  the  Mission  Indians  in  California, 
simply  the  right  to  beg.  They  beg  bread  of  their  white  neighbors  on 
whose  lauds  they  are  trespassers,  on  the  roads  where  they  are  vagrants, 
and  in  the  jails,  which  are  their  only  asylums.  They  have  begged  in 
vain  for  legal  rights.  Their  right  of  petition  to  Congress  has  been 
ignored. 

All  this  distress  might  have  been  avoided,  if  the  Franciscan  fathers 
had  secured  grants  in  fee  of  the  mission-lands  to  be  held  as  designed  in 
trust  for  future  allotment  among  the  neophytes  in  civilization,  and  to 
day  there  would  have  been  flourishing  villages  and  communities  of  val 
uable  workers  where  now  no  trace  of  the  Indian  can  be  found,  except 
the  ruins  of  the  old  missions.  Vagabondage  has  led  to  vice  and  demor 
alization,  and  these  to  extermination. 

The  era  of  the  Franciscan  missions  continued  from  1769  to  1833,  and  was 
a  period  of  increasing  prosperity  in  Alta  California.  The  Indian  missions 
became  the  hives  of  industry  for  the  Pacific  coast,  and  material  wealth, 
as  well  as  social  order,  crowned  the  devoted  labors  of  the  self-sacrificing, 
good  men,  who  so  steadfastly  and  wisely  governed  these  communities 
of  their  own  creation.  Indicative  of  their  prosperity  are  the  following 
facts : 

In  1826,  the  twenty-one  missions  were  the  homes  of  24,611  neophytes, 
(now  less  than  5,000  of  their  descendants  could  be  found.)  They  pos 
sessed  215,000  head  of  neat-cattle,  135,000  sheep,  16,000  horses,  and 
harvested  75,000  bushels  of  grain — wheat,  barley,  and  corn.  And  all 
this  accomplished  by  a  few  wise  men  with  a  fixed  policy. 

But  finally  came  the  interruption  and  the  beginning  of  a  new  era  in 
their  history.  White  men  settled  in  the  country  which  they  had  given 
up  in  exchange  for  mission  life  and  privileges,  and  the  inevitable  conflict 
ensued. 

In  1822,  Mexican  independence  was  declared  and  the  sovereignty  of 
the  Califoruias  fell  under  Mexican  sway.  The  Mexican  Congress,  ruled 
by  the  exigencies  of  the  times  and  the  demands  of  politicians  for  money 
in  the  treasury,  became  the  field  for  the  Mexican  lobby  and  the  source 
of  ill-gotten  wealth  for  the  Mexican  schemers  and  u  land-grabbers." 
Private  grants  were  rapidly  issued  for  all  the  available  valleys  on  the 
California  coast  to  enterprising  settlers,  who,  like  our  advance  guard  of 
settlers,  had  gone  out  into  the  wilderness  to  u  develop  the  country." 
The  missions  were  soon  surrounded  by  chivalric  Mexicans  and  Spanish 
andlords,  and  the  "  cattle  on  a  thousand  hills"  told  prosperity  to  the 
vagabond  ships  which  wandered  that  way  to  purchase  hides  and  tallow; 


4 

but  the  weakness  in  the  title  of  the  mission-properties  tempted  the 
"  land-grabbers  "— history  only  tells  the  same  story  in  other  languages 
and  other  times — and  a  raid  was  made  on  the  Mexican  Congress.  A 
bill  to  secularize  the  missions  was  passed  and  introduced  for  the  osten 
sible  purpose  of  carrying  out  the  original  design  of  the  missions.  Pro 
vision  was  made  for  the  distribution  of  stock  belonging  to  them,  and 
for  the  sale  of  the  mission-lands.  The  pretext,  however,  covered  very 
thinly  a  scheme  to  rob  the  Indians,  and  succeeded  through  the  impor 
tunity  of  the  lobbj^.  The  "  law  of  secularization"  was  passed,  the  mis 
sion-lauds  were  "  restored  to  the  public  domain  "  and  sold,  not  to  the 
Indian,  but  to  ranchers,  and  the  stock,  the  flocks  and  herds — wealth  for 
a  principality,  were  "  divided  up,"  as  was  told  me  by  one  who  was  in 
California  at  that  day  and  who  remembers  its  wrong — divided  up  among 
a  few  influential  Spanish  and  Mexican  families,  and  the  prosperous  self- 
sustaining  Indians  were  made  vagabonds  and  beggars  without  hope  by  act 
of  lau\ 

The  whole  fabric  of  mission-influence  was  laid  waste,  and  valleys 
which  had  been  the  property  and  homes  for  thousands  of  Indian  fam 
ilies  became  the  property  of  a  lew  landlords.  From  that  day  the  In 
dians  began  to  degrade. 

The  era  of  the  ranchero. — The  destruction  of  mission-influence  was 
followed  by  the  scattering  of  the  neophytes.  These  unfortunate  beings, 
however,  had  been  taught  to  labor  in  a  pastoral  lite,  and  they  easily  fell 
into  the  occupations  offered  by  the  rancheros,  who  needed  vaqueros  and 
menials  for  their  vast  estates.  This  feudal  life,  into  which  the  Indians 
were  forced  by  circumstances,  was  less  civilizing  than  the  mission-life  of 
the  past.  They  were  no  longer  instructed  in  useful  arts,  but  were  used 
and  debauched  at  the  pleasure  of  their  masters.  Still  they  lived  in  a 
comparatively  happy  state.  The  ranchos  were  like  small  realms,  so  large 
were  their  areas  and  so  separated  were  the  valleys  by  mountain-chains 
and  ridges.  Grants  of  land  to  single  families  varied  generally  from  a 
Spanish  league  (4,437  acres)  to  eleven  leagues — in  a  few  instances  even 
greater.  Some  of  the  original  Indian  villages  were  still  and  are  to  this 
day  extant. 

During  the  days  of  the  rancJiero,  only  so  recently  passed,  each  Indian 
became  the  owner  of  one  or  more  horses,  and  in  many  cases  of  small 
herds  of  wild  cattle.  In  a  few  instances  they  cultivated  small  patches 
of  land,  but  this  was  rather  the  luxury  than  the  necessity  of  their  mode 
of  life, 

They  lived  almost  at  their  own  will,  wherever  they  chose,  in  scattered 
villages,  in  valleys  which  were  by  common  consent  yielded  up  to 
their  undisturbed  possession,  or  they  gathered  in  small  communities 
upon  grants  of  their  employers  and  near  their  ranchos.  These  vil 
lages  received  the  names  of  rancherias,  and  are  still  designated  as  such. 

The  indiscriminate  grazing  of  stock  over  a  country  where  fences  were 
unknown  gave  equal  opportunities  to  the  Indians,  who  lived  a  careless, 
indolent  life,  only  stirred  into  activity  when  they  were  in  the  saddle  in 
pursuit  of  horses  and  wild  cattle. 

The  era  of  squatters  and  farmers. — When  gold  was  discovered  in  Cal 
ifornia,  and  the  great  rush  of  gold-seekers  and  traders  filled  the  central 
portion  of  what  is  now  the  State  of  California,  the  flocks  and  herds  of  the 
Mexicans  became  the  easy  prey  of  the  new-comers.  The  history  of  the 
wrongs  perpetrated  upon  the  rancheros  was  but  a  repetition'  of  the 
wrongs  suffered  by  the  neophyte  Indians,  excepting  that  there  was 
generally  a  weak  consent  on  the  part  of  the  Mexicans,  who  were 
charmed  by  the  vices  of  the  Americans  and  lost  their  property  in  gain- 


bling  and  profligacy.  Their  stock  was  soon  stolen  or  traded  for  money 
lost  in  gambling-,  and  soon,  with  few  exceptions,  their  lands  were  the 
property  of  lawyers  and  money-lenders.  Congress,  after  onr  Govern 
ment  had  agreed  by  treaty  to  protect  their  rights,  forced  them  all  into 
lawsuits  to  establish  their  claims,  and  contingent  fees  and  contestant- 
squatters  rapidly  exhausted  their  resources.  The  Mission  Indians 
were  literally  annihilated  during  this  invasion  of  "Americans,"  not  by 
wars,  but  by  vice  and  destitution. 

Southern  California,  however,  escaped  the  effects  of  the  gold-fever  and 
remained  in  the  pastoral  condition  until  about  the  fall  of  1867,  when  a 
reaction  took  place  in  public  sentiment,  and  California  was  sought  for 
homes.  This  change  was  followed  by  settlers  seeking  pleasant  homes  in 
the  southern  counties,  the  balmiest  portion  of  the  State.  "  Cutting-up 
ranches"  became  a  favorite  business  of  the  land-speculators,  who  pur 
chased  large  grants  and  offered  them  ,for  sale  in  small  tracts  to  the 
farmers  who  poured  into  the  country.  The  determination  of  boundaries 
of  the  Spanish  and  Mexican  grants  revealed  to  the  settlers  choice  tracts 
of  farming-lauds,  which  were  immediately  occupied  by  them  as  squat 
ters  or  pre-emptors  on  the  public  domain.  ,In  a  short  time  every  availa 
ble  piece  of  public  land  had  an  occupant,  or  claimant,  and  yet  no  pro 
vision  made  for  the  Indians,  who  swarmed  throughout  the  country,  a 
peaceable,  useful  class. 

Soon  caine  the  u  no-fence"  laws,  which,  provide  by  legislative  enact 
ment  that  stock-men  must  herd  their  stock  and  that  farmers  need  not 
fence  their  lands  to  protect  their  crops.  This  soon  extinguished  the 
cattle  interests.  Sheep-men  with  their  capital,  and  farmers  with  their 
crops,  covered  the  country,  and  the  Indians  were  without  legal  rights  to 
their  homes  in  their  own  laud.  Several  ineffectual  attempts  to  reserve 
public  lands  for  Indians  have  been  made,  but  each  time  defeated  through 
the  opposition  and  protests  of  white  settlers,  who  would  be  thereby 
dispossessed. 

The  Indians  have  therefore  lost  all  their  traditional  and  customary 
rights,  and  are  now  everywhere  trespassers  in  the  land,  vagrants,  and 
troublesome  neighbors  to  the  whites.  They  still  support  themselves 
partially  by  cultivation  of  the  soil ;  but  they  have  no  undisputed  titles 
(except  in  one  or  two  instances  of  special  Mexican  grants  to  Indians) 
to  their  homes.  Generally  throughout  the  country  they  gain  a  precari 
ous  living  by  wandering  about  in  search  of  employment ;  they  pick 
grapes,  herd  and  wash  sheep,  chop  wood,  and  do  ordinary  menial  ser 
vice.  In  the  vicinity  of  towns  the  women  give  themselves  up  to  prostitu 
tion,  the  ill-gotten  gains  of  such  a  life  supporting  small  villages  or 
rancherias  for  a  brief  period,  which  is  soon  ended  by  disease  and  drunk 
enness. 

The  Mission  Indians  have  become  practically  outcasts,  notwithstand 
ing  their  love  for  their  homes  and  their  willingness  to  work.  Circum 
stances  have  made  them  public  nuisances,  and  serious  conflicts  between 
them  and  the  whites  are  constauly  arising.  Their  condition  is  wretched 
in  the  extreme,  and  is  each  year  becoming  worse.  Yet  they  are  recog 
nized  by  the  people  among  whom  they  live  as  necessary  workers  in  the 
Held  of  developing  the  country.  The  fault  is  not  with  the  people — the 
white  settlers,  who  are  only  accepting  the  invitation  of  the  laws  to  set 
tle  the  country — but  with  the  Government  aud  Congress,  which  has 
failed  to  establish  any  practical  mode  of  relief  and  means  for  the  settle 
ment  of  the  Indians. 

The  white  people  suffer  as  well  as  the  Indians,  and,  as  I  have  found 
by  actual  observation  and  experience,  are  equally  to  be  considered,  if  any 


plan  is  to  be  devised  for  the  settlement  of  these  troubles.  The  outcast 
Indian  becomes  a  vicious  vagrant,  and  when  his  right  to  his  little  home 
on  the  public  lauds  or  on  the  private  grant  is  questioned  he  becomes 
necessarily  restless  and  quarrelsome,  and  his  disposition  to  do  wrong  is 
encouraged.  Prostitution,  robbery,  drunkenness,  and  murder  have  been 
common  results  in  the  last  few  years,  where  peace  reigned  before.  Mis 
ery,  disease,  and  death  are  the  impending  fate  of  these  wretched  creatures, 
if  suffered  longer  to  live  the  life  of  forced  vagrancy. 

The  larger  portion  of  the  remnants  of  the  Mission  Indians  within  the 
State  of  California  are  confined  to  the  county  of  San  Diego,  where  they 
number  about  twenty  five  hundred,  besides  nearly  as  many  more  who 
speak  the  Spanish  language  and  are  claimed  as  Eomau  Catholics. 
The  numbers  in  Los  Angeles  and  San  Bernardino  Counties  are  much 
less,  and  the  farther  north  we  go,  we  find  that  civilization  for  the 
whites  has  been  an  exterminating  process  to  them.  Farther  ea.st,  in 
San  Bernardino  and  San  Diego  Counties,  there  are  other  Indians,  com 
monly  known  as  Desert  Indians,  though  of  various  tribes;  but  these 
did  not  come  within  my  mission,  they  being  wholly  uncivilized  and 
never  under  the  complete  control  of  the  missions,  though  they  are  in 
cluded  within  the  pastoral  duties  of  the  priests  of  the  Roman  Catholic 
Church;  to  Father  Ubach,  of  San  Diego,  and  Father  Verdaguer,  of  San 
Bernardino,  being  assigned  these  objects  of  missionary-work  in  San 
Diego  and  San  Bernardino  Counties,  respectively.  Accompanying  this 
report,  I  have  the  honor  to  submit,  for  the  information  of  the  Depart 
ment,  a  translation  of  a  letter  of  Father  Verdaguer  to  Bishop  Amat,  con 
taining  a  report  concerning  the  Desert  Indians  under  his  charge.  Con 
cerning  these  Desert  Indians,  Father  Verdaguer  writes,  under  date  of 
August  25,  1873,  in  a  manner  that  would  be  equally  applicable  to  the 
Mission  Indians.  He  says: 

Yes,  my  lordship,  it  is  sad  to  see  how  many  of  them  make  their  living.  Many  of  the 
men,  as  they  have  nothing  to  support  themselves  with,  steal  from  the  whites,  and  the 
women  give  themselves  Tip  to  a  life  of  prostitution,  thus  causing  the  demoralization  and 
ruin  of  many  whites,  particularly  of  the  young.  What  I  say  is  a  fact  in  all  cases  where 
the  Indians  are  residing  near  the  whites  ;  a  fact  known  and  lamented  hy  all  good  and 
honest  people.  The  Government  knows  nothing  of  this,  or  it  would  use  all  possible 
means  to  prevent  it.  Let,  then,  ail  this  be  explained,  and  I  am  certain  that  the,  Govern 
ment  will  listen  to  your  lordship,  will  give  to  the  Indians  laud  enough  to  support  1  hem- 
selves,  and  I  Avill  help  your  lordship  establish  schools  for  them.  You  will  then  be  able 
to  put  a  priest  there  who  can  easily  manage  and  control  them.  I  say  I  am  certain  of 
this,  because  by  this  plan  the  Government  will  not  be  compelled  to  expend  one-half  of 
what  it  now  costs  to  keep  up  agencies  and  reservations.  I  was  talking  some  time  ago 
with  one  of  the  chiefs,  and  he  said — "  the  whites  complain  to  me  that  my  men  steal  and 
do  many  other  bad  things.  Well,  I  suppose  they  do  ;  but  who  is  more  to  blame  than 
the  whites  themselves  ?  They  have  stolen  all  our  land  from  us,  and  we  have  nothing 
to  support  ourselves  with.  Let  the  Government  secure  to  us  the  lands  we  now  have, 
give  some  to  those  who  have  none  ;  then  my  Indians  will  not  steal ;  then  I  will  bo  re 
sponsible  for  their  acts,  and  I  know  the  whites  will  have  nothing  to  complain  of." 

They  had  no  agent  for  several  ye;r  -,  ami  the'-  do  not  care  mu,  h  about  it.  The  only  men 
they  have  conii  hem  is  one  of  us — a  Catho 

Would  to  God  the  Government  w.mld  understand  them,  and  put  the  Indians  under  our 
control.  In  a  few  years  they  would  bean  entirely  different  people  ;  they  would  beabje 
to  support  themselves ;  they  would  be  good  Christians,  and  even  they  could  be  made 
good  citizens,  and  an  honor  to  the  Government: 

It  is  useless  for  me  in  this  report  to  give  in  detail  the  events  of  my 
tour  among  these  Mission  Indians,  excepting  so  far  as  practical  results 
of  investigation  are  concerned.  The  Department  is  well  informed, 
through  the  able  report  of  Rev.  John  G.  Ames,  who  visited  Southern 
California  as  special  commissioner  last  year,  respecting  the  various  dis 
tribution  of  the  Indians  throughout  the  country. 

To  illustrate  some  of  the  features  of  the  present  Mission  Indian  life, 


I  will  quote  a,  few  passages  from  Charles  Xordhoff  s  work  on  California, 
which  fairly  pictures  some  of  the  scenes  which  are  common  in  Southern 
California.  Mr.  Norclhoff  says  : 

About  San  Bernandino  the  farm-laborers  are  chiefly  Indians.  These  people,  of  whom 
California  has  still  several  thousand,  are  a  very  useful  class.  They  trim  the  vines, 
they  plow,  they  do  the  household  chores,  they  are  shepherds — and  trusty  oues,  too  ; 
vacqueros,  and  helpers  generally.  Mostly  they  live  among  the  whites,  and  are  thus  hum 
ble,  and,  I  judge,  tolerably  efficient  ministers.  Near  San  Bernardino,  at  any  rate.  I 
found  that 'it  was  thought  a  great  advantage  for  a  man  to  "  have  Indians."  At  Teuie- 
cula,  rwelve  miles  from  the  Laguna,  we  came  upon  an  Indian  settlement.  You  know 
already  that  these  California  Indians  were,  in  the  old  times,  gathered  by  pious  priests 
into  missions,  where  they  were  taught  various  useful  industries,  and  the  habit  of  la 
bor.  The  old  missions  of  California,  now  mere  shells  and  ruins,  show  yet  abundant 
evidence,  in  aqueducts,  buildings,  mills,  reservoirs,  and  orange  and  olive  orchards,  of 
the  skill  and  perseverance  which  the  Franciscan  friars  brought  to  their  task  of  civiliz 
ing  the  savages.  u  Those  old  fellows  knew  better  how  to  manage  the  Indians  than  we 
do,"  said  a  rough  old  man  who  had  walked  with  me  through  one  of  the  old  missions. 
They  did  a  good  work,  for  they  found  the  Indians  savages,  and  left  them  at  least  thor 
oughly  tamed.  The  Indian  of  these  southern  counties  is  not  a  very  respectable  being, 
but  he  is  of  some  use  in  the  world ;  he  works.  It  is  true  that  he  loves  strong  grape 
brandy;  that  he  gets  drunk  ;•  that  he  lives  poorly;  that  he  does  not  acquire  money; 
and  has  even  fewer  notions  of  what  we  call  comfort  than  his  Spanish,  half  Spanish, 
Pike,  and  American  neighbors.  But  he  does  not  assassinate  like  the  brutal  Apache, 
and  he  has  wants  enough  to  make  him  labor  for  money.  "I  do  not  think  my  Indians 
would  stav  with  me  if  they  could  not  get  drunk  every  Saturday  night,"  said  one  who 
had  just  praised  them  as  tolerably  steady,  and  very  useful  and  indispensable  laborers. 

The  houses  in  which  they  live  are  mostly  constructed  of  reeds  and  barley-straw, 
laced  with  long  poles.  You  will  see,  if  you  enter,  a  single  dark  room,  without  windows 
or  chimney;  the  fire  planted  at  one  end,  and  smoke  escaping  by  the  door;  the  stone 
on  which  grain  is  ground  for  tortillas  near  the  door;  the  beds  on  the  floor  occupying 
half  the  space  within  ;  the  women  and  children,  and  on  Sunday  the  men,  sitting  around 
the  fire  waiting  for  the  mess  which  is  boiling  in  the  pot,  and  which  seemed  to  me  to  be 
generally  mush,  with  no  trace  of  meat ;  and  without  the  door  a  few  pots,  pans,  chick 
ens,  /lucks,  and  dogs. 

This  house  is  planted,  seemingly  by  chance,  anywhere,  without  relation  to  anything 
except  usually  another  house  just  like  it.  It  has  a  flap-door  made  of  an  old  apron 
or  dress;  but  under  the  same  roof  you  will  generally  find  another  room  with  a  door, 
which  is  fastened.  At  first  I  thought  this  an  apartment  to  let,  but  it  is  a  store-house, 
and  seems  to  be  a  sort  of  genteel  sham,  for  every  one  into  which  I  got  a  peep  Avas 
empty  or  very  nearly  so.  It  had  probably  the  same  relation  to  the  dignity  and 
good  standing  of  a  family  that  a  hermetically-sealed  parlor  has  to  a  respectable  coun 
tryman's  house  in  New  England. 

If  you  can  tell  the  difference  between  mere  squalor  and  filth,  you  would  see  that 
these  Indian  houses  and  their  inhabitants  are  not  dirty.  I  think  it  likely  that  they 
learned  cleanliness  from  the  old  Spanish  Californians,  who,  it  should  be  known,  are  an 
eminently  cleanly  people.  At  one  of  these  houses,  at  a  little  distance  from  Teinecula,  I 
begged  some  hot  water  to  prepare  myself  a  little  luuch,  and  while  this  was  getting 
ready,  took  an  inventory  of  the  interior.  It  contained  three  children,  a  very  old  blind 
man,  who  bent  over  the  fire  and  muttered  to  himself;  three  women,  a  girl,  who  was  rub- 
bing  wheat  on  the  tortilla-stone;  a  man  sleeping  on  the  bed,  with  his  head  covered 
and  his  feet  sticking  out  near  the  fire  ;  a  baby  tied  into  a  wooden  frame,  in  which  the 
little  ones  are  held,  carried,  and  rocked;  a  fire  ;  a  few  baskets,  which  are  beautifully 
m:ule  by  these  people,  and  aro  water-tight;  two  saddles,  an  ox-yoke,  a  table,  a  sieve, 
:  which  w;; 

-bonnet,  a  pair  <>f  i.tced  sh:>e.->,  iiuug 

up,  and  evidently  not  often  used,  and  a  small  picture  of  some  saint.     Outside  stood 
two  very  respectable-looking  wash-tubs,  several  pots,  and  for  the  rest,  dogs. 

Now  here  was  an  outfit,  in  fact,  superior  to  that  which  I  noted  in  several  Pike  shan 
ties  on  the  way.  Here  were  preparations  for  living  simply,  but,  after  all,  not  uncleanly. 
Beyond  this  the  Indian  does  not  get.  As  you  ride  through  the  country  you  can  tell  at 
a  distance  the  character  of  the  inhabitants  of  a  house  you  are  approaching.  If  the 
house  is  of  reeds  and  straw,  the  owner  is  an  Indian  ;  if  it  is  of  adobe,  it  is  a  Spaniard 
who  lives  there;  if  it  is  of  frame,  be  sure  it  is  an  "American,"  as  we  of  the  old  States 
proudly  call  ourselves.  Often  the  wooden  house  is  a  mere  box,  smaller  and  less  com 
fortable  than  the  Indian's  straw  hut,  but  it  is  of  wood. 

The  Indians  in  this  part  of  the  State  are  harmless.  Being  white  and  of  the  superior 
race,  therefore,  you  have  the  privilege  of  entering  any  Indian's  house,  and  you  will  be 


kindly  received,  and  if  yon  want  water  out  of  his  oya,  or  wish  to  cook  your  own  dinner 
at  his  fire,  you  are  welcome.  You  will  prefer  to  camp  out  beside  your  own  fire,  in  the 
open  air,  rather  than  take  lodgings  iu  his  house. 

******* 

These  Temecula  Indians  are,  I  am  told,  descendants  of  those  who  formerly  lived, 
around  the  missions  of  San  Louis  Key  and  San  Diego.  A  thoughtful  man  cannot  visit 
these  and  other  old  missions  in  this  part  of  the  State  without  feeling  a  deep  respect 
for  tlie  good  men  who  erected  these  now  ruined  churches ;  gathered  around  them  com 
munities  of  savages,  and  patiently  taught  them  not  only  to  worship  in  a  Christian 
church,  hut  also  the  habit  of  labor,  the  arts  of  agriculture,  and  some  useful  trades. 
They  used  the  labor  of  the  Indians  to  bring  water  in  solidly-built  aqueducts,  often  for 
a  distance  of  miles,  and  to  store  it  in  tanks  built  of  stone  and  cement,  which  still  stand 
empty,  and  seine  with  trees  growing  out  of  their  depths.  They  introduced  in  this 
State  the  olive,  the  orange,  the  date-palm,  the  almond,  as  well  as  the  cereals  ;  and  the 
olive-orchards  at  the  San  Diego  mission,  the  earliest  planted  in  the  State,  still  bear 
heavy  crops,  and  are  a  source  of  profit. 

Moreover,  when  you  have  seen  two  or  three  of  these  old  missions,  it  will  dawn  upon, 
you  that  the  good  old  padres  had  an  excellent  eye  for  country.  What  they  sought, 
apparently,  was  a  fine  viesv,  shelter  from  rude  winds,  good  soil,  and  the  vicinity  of 
water:  and  so  well  did  they  secure  their  objects,  that  a  mission-site^is  without  excep 
tion,  so  far  as  I  know,  the  very  best  spot  for  residence  and  agriculture  in  its  district. 
At  Santa  Barbara,  for  instance,  the  white  mission-buildings  can  be  seen  for  a  dozen 
miles  in  almost  every  direction  ;  they  are  completely  sheltered  from  rough  winds,  and 
the  adjoining  mission-lands  are  notoriously  among  the  most  fertile  in  the  region. 
About  San  Diego,  the  country,  which  gets  but  little  rain,  has  an  arid  look,  until  you 
drive  into  the  Mission  Valley  ;  but  even  in  this  dry  year,  the  view  from  the  old  mission 
church,  now  a  sad  ruin,  is  lovely.  You  have  a  broad  expanse  of  green  before  you,  with 
the  beautiful  grayish-green  of  the  old  olive-orchard  for  a  foreground,  and  stately  palms 
rearing  their  heads  above  the  olive-trees. 

The  history  of  the  missions  of  California  has  been  compiled  by  a  well-known  Roman 
Catholic  writer;  but  his  \vork  gives  too  little  information  concerning  the  character 
and  objects  of  the  old  Dominican  friars,  to  whose  patience  and  perseverance  in  a  noble 
work  Southern  California  is  to-day  indebted  for  a  valuable  laboring  force. 

it  *•  *  '  *  *  *  ^ 

Perhaps  they  discussed  for  many,  many  weary  hours  their  work,  their  aims,  and  their 
objects  in  those  pleasant  shady  walks,  bounded  by  olive-trees  on  one  side  and  pome 
granates  on  the  other,  traces  of  which  you  may  still  discover  in  some  of  the  old  mis 
sion-grounds.  What  a  pleasant  sunny  nook  of  the  world  they  occupied. 

Investigation  has  shown  to  me  that  there  are  three  classes  of  diffi 
culties  that  must  be  provided  against  by  judicious  laws,  if  it  is  the  in 
tention  of  the  Government  and  Congress  to  deal  justly  with  the  Indians 
and  to  protect  American  citizens  from  the  evils  which  now  surround 
them,  which  are  the  effects  of  contact  with  a  vagabond  class,  whose 
vagabondage  may  be  laid  at  the  door  of  the  Government. 

In  order  to  make  these  Indians  occupy  positions  of  usefulness  in  a 
white  community  without  conflict  of  rights  and  to  divest  them  of  the 
character  of  public  nuisances,  it  will  be  necessary — 

First.  To  adjust  and  determine  the  rights  of  Indians  on  public  lands, 
with  due  regard  to  the  claims  of  white  settlers,  who  have  been  invited 
by  law  to  seek  homes  in  the  same  localities. 

Second.  To  settle  the  conflict  between  owners  of  private  laud-claims 
and  Indians  occupying  the  same. 

Third.  To  prevent,  as  far  as  possible,  vagrancy,  with  its  attendant 
evils,  prostitution,  drunkenness,  &c. 

In  attempting  to  report  fairly  concerning  these  evils,  and  to  suggest 
proper  methods  for  overcoming  them,  I  have  kept  foremost  in  my  mind 
several  fixed  ideas : 

First.  That  intercourse  on  equal  terms  between  whites  and  Indians 
invariably  results  in  the  degradation  of  the  latter. 

Second.  That  Indians  in  their  present  savage  or  semi-civilized  condi-* 
tion  are  not  competent  to  compete  with  the  superior  intelligence  and 
force  of  the  whites.    In  all  cases  where  they  attempt  to  do  so,  on  equal 


9 

terms,  the  Indians  become  the  victims  of  the  vices  of  the  whites  and  the 
easy  prey  of  the  unscrupulous  trader  and  speculator. 

Third.  That,  even  if  it  be  true  that  civilization  will  ultimately  ex 
terminate  the  Indian  race  when  it  comes  in  contact  with  the  Anglo- 
Saxon  merciless  rule  of  progress  and  life,  "root,  hog,  or  die,"  yet  it  is 
the  duty  of  the  Government  to  protect  all  human  beings  within  its 
power  in  their  rights,  and  to  determine  those  rights  ;  and  if  any  class  of 
those  beings  are  shown  by  nature  to  be  incompetent  to  live  under  the  high- 
pressure  laws  of  advanced  civilization,  it  is  the  duty  of  the  Government  to 
pass  special  laws  under  the  operation  of  which  an  opportunity  to  grow  into 
civilized  life  may  be  given  them,  at  least  to  protect  them  humanely  from 
the  consequence  of  their  own  weakness. 

Fourth.  That  it  is  peculiarly  the  duty  of  our  Government  to  pass 
special  laws  for  the  protection  of  Indians,  who  are  forced  to  receive  civil 
ization  among  them,  even  though  special  laws  for  other  classes  be  ob 
jected  to. 

Fifth.  That  any  attempt  at  the  present  time,  except  in  special  instances, 
to  extend,  unqualifiedly,  rights  or  even  privileges  of  citizenship  to 
Indians,  will  necessarily  result  in  evil  to  them,  through  the  competition 
of  forces  for  which  they  are  not  prepared. 

Sixth.  That  Indians  must  be  treated  as  wards  of  the  Government,  and 
in  consequence  thereof  the  Government  must  be  the  guardian  or  trustee 
of  all  their  rights,  or  establish  such  trusteeship  for  them. 

Seventh.  That  their  rights  as  wards  must  be  determined  and  vested 
in  their  trustee,  beyond'  the  reach  of  political  control  and  the  effects  of 
political  changes. 

Eighth.  That  until  it  be  shown  that  Indians  are  increasing  in  num 
bers,  it  is  unnecessary  to  reserve  or  establish  rights  for  their  use  in  ex 
cess  of  the  demands  of  their  present  numbers.  Reservations  of  land, 
sufficient  to  provide  for  their  actual  occupation,  will  answer  all  politic 
purposes.  Experience  shows  that  larger  reservations  always  invite 
encroachments  with  impunity  by  the  whites. 

Ninth.  That  the  ordinary  punishments  for  Indian  misdemeanors  and 
crimes,  as  applied  under  general  laws  now  in  force,  are  not  effectual 
against  their  commission  or  repetition.  Except  within  the  limited  oper 
ation  of  their  own  laws  and  customs,  Indians  only  exceptionally  appear 
to  have  any  shame  or  regard  for  reputation,  the  two  great  conservators 
of  good  morals  and  public  peace.  Indians  need  a  more  rigid  and  effect 
ive  system  to  compel  or  induce  obedience  to  law. 

Tenth.  That  when  Indians  and  whites  mingle  in  their  occupations  and 
life,  the  interests  of  the  whites  are  equally  involved  with  those  of  the 
Indians  in  any  plan  for  the  assistance  or  government  of  the  former,  and 
the  interests  of  both  should  be  considered  together. 

Eleventh.  That  prostitution  of  Indian  women  is  the  invariable  result 
of  unrestricted  intercourse  between  Indians  and  whites,  and  the  sole 
great  cause  of  the  extermination  of  Indian  tribes  by  the  advance  of 
civilization,  ardent  spirits  sometimes  being  the  means  to  such  debauch 
ery  used  by  whites,  and  generally  being  the  object  coveted,  for  which  the 
women  prostitute  themselves,  and  are  suffered  to  do  so  by  the  Indian 
men,  who  covet  a  share  of  the  ill-gotten  poisons. 

Twelfth.  That  the  sale  of  ardent  spirits  to  Indians  cannot  practically 
and  effectively  be  prevented  by  laws  forbidding  or  punishing  the  sale 
thereof.  In  the  streets  of  San  Diego  and  other  towns  I  have  visited,  it 
is  common  to  see  Indians  coming  and  going  with  bottles  of  whisky,  and 
yet  no  white  jury  will  convict  a  white  trader.  Even  if  the  sale  could  be 
stopped  at  the  stores,  there  are  a  thousand  ways  to  smuggle  the  contra- 


10 

band  article  among  the  Indians.  The  only  remedy  is  to  punish  the  In 
dian  for  drunkenness,  not  by  confinement  in  jail,  but  by  compulsory 
work. 

Having  entertained  these  fixed  ideas  on  the  subject  of  Indian  charac 
ter  and  management,  after  making  a  thorough  investigation  of  the  con 
dition  of  the  Mission  Indians  by  a  tour  of  observation  throughout 
Southern  California,  I  requested  the  city,  county.  State  and  Federal 
officers  to  meet  me  in  the  cities  of  San  Diego  and  Los  Angeles  for  con 
sultation.  These  officers,  or  many  of  them,  have  had,  for  many  years, 
constant  necessity  to  study  this  Indian  question  in  a  practical  way,  and 
their  large  experience  I  found  to  be  valuable  to  me.  Especially  impor 
tant  was  it  for  me  to  present  my  views  to  the  register  and  receiver  of 
the  land-office  of  that  district,  because  these  officers  are  constantly 
troubled  with  contests  between  white  settlers  and  Indians,  and  the  re 
sults  of  their  observation  I  found  to  be  of  value. 

In  San  Diego  a  meeting  was  called  informally  at  the  county  court 
room  on  the  20th  of  October  last.  The  San  Diego  Union  of  the  next 
day  published  a  lengthy  report  of  the  proceedings,  giving  much  of  the 
substance  of  that  which  is  stated  in  the  first  part  of  this  report,  besides 
the  following,  which  I  will  quote  in  order  to  show  what  the  feeling  of 
the  community  there  is,  as  based  on  that  publication.  The  Union  says: 

Yesterday  afternoon,  by  invitation  of  Special  United  States  Commissioner  Charles 
A.  Wetmore,  the  county  officers  and  citizens  of  San  Diego  met  in  the  county  court 
room  to  hear  his  suggestions  regarding  the  rights,  duties,  and  obligations  of  the  Mis 
sion  Indians  of  this  county,  and  the  proposed  plan  for  the^mprovemeut  of  their  condi 
tion.  Before  making  a  report  upon  a  matter  of  mutual  interest  to  the  Government 
and  to  the  citizens  of  Southern  California,  it  was  deemed  desirable  to  obtain  the  views 
of  those  familiar  with  the  subject  in  its  local  bearings.  It  was  gratifying  to  observe 
that  not  only  were  all  the  officers  of  the  county  present,  but  many  of  our  most  thought 
ful  and  best  citizens. 

******* 

Mr.  Wetmore's  idea  is  to  reproduce,  as  far  as  present  circumstances  will  permit,  the 
old  mission  system,  and  to  revive  the  slumbering  influences  which  once  controlled  these 
christianized  Indians.  He  has  outlined  his  plan  as  follows  : 

First.  To  adjust  and  determine  the  rights  of  the  Indians  on  public  lands.  The 
Indians,  in  many  places,  are  living  in  valleys  on  the  public  lands.  There  are  no  r^s- 
ervations  for  them;  they  have  not  been  recoguized  as  citizens  with  privileges  to  pre 
empt  lands,  nor  should  such  privileges  be  granted  them.  Tiie  era  of  in.liscriininato 
grazing  is  goue,  and  the  Indians  in  most  places  simply  require  a  snrill  patch  of  ground 
for  a  home.  Indians  here  seldom  cultivate  more  than  a  small  garden,  and  generally 
the  most  that  they  require  to  occupy  would  be  five  acres.  In  a  few  cases  larger  pos 
sessions  are  cultivated,  but  then  it  will  almost  always  be  found  that  several  families 
are  cultivating  the  field  in  common.  The  majority  of  the  Indians  depend  for  support 
upon  their  labor  as  laborers  in  the  country,  and  to  obtain  employment  they  periodi 
cally  leave  their  villages,  only  to  return  to  them  again.  Their  love  for  their  little 
homes  is,  however,  very  great,  and  they  can  only  be  induced  to  abandon  them  by  force, 
long-continued  persecution,  or  the  demoralizing  influence  of  whisky,  for  which  many 
of  them  will  sell  anything  that  they  possess,  even  the  virtue  of  their  families. 

In  nearly  all  the  valleys  containing  Indian  settlements,  white  settlers  have  estab 
lished  homes.     The  conflict  is  inevitable.     Tlu>,v  is  no  authority  by  which  the   : 
Offitv  :;nd  exclude  from  pre-emption  the  Indian  occupations; 

whose  claim  oi'one  hundred  and  sixty  acres  or  less  includes  necessarily  an  Indian  hab 
itation,  cannot  obtain  his  title  without  claiming  the  Indian  occupation  also.  There 
is,  therefore,  a  strong  temptation  to  cut  the  gordian  knot  of  difficulties  by  intimidating 
the  Indian  to  leave,  or  purchasing  his  right  for  a  bottle  of  whisky.  In  the  one  case 
the  Indian  becomes  belligerent,  and  is  disposed  to  defend  his  own  claim  in  his  own 
way  ;  and,  in  the  other  case,  he  becomes  a  vagrant  or  a  trespasser.  Mr.  Wotmore  says 
that  he  finds  very  little  disposition  on  the  part  of  the  settlers  to  treat  the  Indians  badly  ; 
the  troubles  arise  from  the  want  of  laws  by  which  the  Indian  settlements  and  claims 
can  be  determined  and  set  apart.  In  a  few  cases  patents  have  issued  to  settlers  for 
lands  on  which  there  are  Indian  homes;  but  generally  the  slow  progress  of  public 
surveys  has  rendered  it  impossible  for  the  settlers  to  prove  up  their  claims. 

Before  the  difficulties  become  greater,  Mr.  Wetmore-  thinks  that  a  survey  should 
be  made  of  all  the  Indian  villages  aud  homes  on  the  public  lauds,  so  as  to  determine 


11 

the  exact  location  and  extent  of  their  actual  occupancy.  Then  an  order  should 
be  made  by  the  Government  reserving  from  pre-emption  all  such  tracts,  the  extent  to 
be  determined,  when  there  is  a  conflict  with  white  settlers,  by  actual  cultivation  or 
continued  iuclosure  in  the  past  ;  or  in  case  where  there  is  an  Indian  house  without 
cultivated  lands  or  inclosures,  the  reservation  of  a  square  lot  not  to  exceed  five  acres. 
When  there  is  no  conflict  with  white  settlers,  more  liberal  reservations  might  be  made. 
Then  the  settlers  might  proceed  with  their  pre-emption  without  disturbing  the  Indians. 
Legislation  should  be  had  to  authorize  the  issuance  of  a  patent  for  the  lands  of  the 
Indians  to  some  party  —  say  the  Secretary  of  the  Interior  —  to  be  held  in  trust  for  the 
Indians.  Certificates  of  right  of  possession  should  then  be  issued  by  the  trustee  to 
the  Indians,  the  condition  in  all  cases  to  be  that  any  sale,  lease,  or  transfer  of  the  title, 
or  occupancy  by  the  Indians  except  by  special  permission  of  the  trustee,  be  declared 
void.  All  inducement  to  corrupt  the  Indian  for  the  sake  of  acquiring  his  title  to  land 
would  then  cease.  The  Indian  would  be  satisfied  and  secure  in  his  home,  and  could  be 
compelled  to  improve  it  by  making  substantial  inclosures,  &c. 

Mr.  Wetmore  also  suggests  that  a  law  be  passed  authorizing  Indians  to  contract  for 
the  purchase  of  lauds,  or  receive  gifts  of  the  same  on  private  ranches  or  farms,  provid 
ing  that  the  title  be  vested,  as  in  the  other  case,  in  the  hands  of  a  trustee,  with  simi 
lar  restrictions  as  to  its  transfer  or  sale.  This  would  enable  ranchmen  to  settle  about 
them  the  Indians  whom  they  employ.  This  idea  has  been  suggested  to  a  number  of 
land-holders  in  this  county,  especially  those  engaged  in  raising  stock,  and  in  nearly 
every  case  Mr.  Wetmore  says  that  they  express  a  desire  to  adopt  it  at  once  and  will  be 
glad  to  give  Indians  homes  to  secure  their  services. 

Second.  To  settle  the  conflict  between  Indians  on  ranches  and  the  ranch-holders. 
This  may  be  done  in  some  cases  by  the  purchase  of  the  lauds  actually  occupied  by  the 
Indians,  the  title  and  allotments  to  be  similarly  arranged  as  in  the  case  of  the  public 
lands,  and  for  the  rest  by  the  purchase  of  some  suitably-situated  and  selected  tract  on 
which  can  be  organized  a  central  and  principal  town  and  rendezvous  for  the  tribe.  If 
this  should  be  done  Mr.  Wetmore  thinks  that  a  lot  of  ground  should  be  set  apart  for 
a  church  :  and  inasmuch  as  these  Indians  are  ail  Komau  Catholics,  the  Roman  Catholic 
church  should  be  invited  to  establish  there  a  mis-ion,  and  be  secured  in  a  permanent 
occupation  of  the,  same.  The  influence  of  such  an  institution  might  in  a  great  measure 
restore  the  former  prosperity  of  Indians. 

No  compulsion  should  be  used  to  compel  the  Indians  to  accept  any  particular  abode, 
except  in  case  of  habitual  vagrancy;  but  the  plan  should  be  to  encourage  the  devel 
opment  of  the  Indian  town  and  mission.  The  Government  might  well  afford  to  edu 
cate,  in  Santa  Clara  College  or  elsewhere,  a  small  class  of  young  Indians,  whose 
work  might  hereafter  be  used  to  advantage  in  the  tribe. 

Third.  Vagrancy,  &c.  A  resident  agent  should  be  appointed,  at  least  in  the  begin 
ning,  to  carry  this  plan  into  effect.  He  should  have  power  to  seize  any  Indian  who  is 
a  vagrant,  habitual  drunkard,  or  prostitute,  and  hire  out  his  or  her  services  to  labor, 
the  proceeds  at  the  end  of  a  given  term  of  such  servitude  to  be  expended  upon  the 
home  of  the  Indian,  or,  as  punishment  for  vagrancy,  the  Indian  might  be  compelled  to 
work  a  specified  time  in  improving  the  lauds  of  the  Indian  town.  Indians  should  be 
treated  as  vagrants  who  remain  longer  than  twenty-four  hours  within  the  limits  of  the 
city  of  San  Diego  or  other  town  of  any  considerable  size,  unless  thev  kavp  employ- 


At  some  future  time  the  homes  of  the  Indians  might  be  given  in  fee  to  them. 
would  then  be  qualified  for  citizenship  and  the  old  mission  idea  would  be  fulfilled. 
This  plan,  at  least,  would  secure  the  Indians  permanent  homes  aud  put  a  stop  to  their 
fear  of  losing  what  they  possess.  It  would  be  both  politic  and  humane. 

During  Mr.  Wetmoie's  remarks,  questions  were  asked  aud  suggestions  offered  by 
several  of  the  gentlemen  present  ;  and,  at  the  conclusion,  there  were  expressions  of 
hearty  approval  from  County  Judge  Bush,  C.  P.  Taggart.  esq.,  Assemblyman  Bowers, 
Maj.  D.  Chase,  District  Attorney  Hotchkiss,  Judge  Tyson,  County  Clerk  Grant,  Sheriff 
Hmisaker,  A.  E.  Morton,  and  others.  Mi1.  13  >\vers  commended  the  proposition  to  secure 
the  influence  of  the  Catholic  Church,  which  had  attain:  '  -  with 

these  Indians  which  remained  as  an  example  for  the  treatment  of  the  present  problem  ; 
we  could  hardly  hope  to  succeed  better  than  the  early  mission  fathers  did.  Mr.  Tag 
gart  said  that  Mr.  Wetmore  Lad  really  thought  out  a  practical  application  of  the 
ancient  mission  system  to  the  wants  of  the  present  day  ;  he  had  proposed  a  plan  which 
comprehended  the  best  features  of  that  old  system  aud  was  adapted  to  existing  neces 
sities. 

There  was,  indeed,  a  unanimous  indorsement  of  the  general  plan  outlined  by  the 
commissioner,  and  a  willingness  \vas  expressed  to  urge  its  adoption  upon  the  Govern 
ment  by  the  people  of  this  county. 

The  foregoing  extracts  contain  a  very  good  report  of  the  remedies  that 
I  suggested  for  the  correction  of  evils  now  existing,  and  also  a  fair  state 
ment  of  the  action  of  the  meeting,  as  will  be  shown  by  the  copies  of 


12 

official  letters  received  by  me  from  officers  who  are  of  both  political  par 
ties,  and  mostly  democrats,  which  copies  I  include  in  this  report. 

I  am  still  of  the  opinion  that  the  suggestions  there  made  by  me  were 
those  that  should  be  made,  and  I  now  offer  them  to  the  Government, 
hoping  that  the  attention  of  Congress  will  be  called  to  them. 

I  feel  only  in  doubt  as  to  the  practicability  of  carrying  out  the  sug 
gestions  in  reference  to  remedies  for  vagrancy.  The  question  of  citizen 
ship  of  Indians  and  a  conflict  of  laws,  Federal  and  State,  might  hereafter 
modify  these  proposed  remedies. 

In  several  instances,  Indians  in  Los  Angeles  County  have  been  in 
duced  to  make  application,  as  citizens,  to  have  their  names,  as  voters, 
registered,  which  has  been  done  for  them  ;  but  I  know  that  these  Mis 
sion  Indians,  excepting  a  few  who  are  half-breeds, .are  totally  unfit  to 
exercise  the  rights  of  citizenship.  If,  during  any  political  excitement, 
any  person  (and  there  are  those  who  could  and  might  do  it)  should  cause 
the  names  of  a  large  number  to  be  registered,  and  then  control  their 
votes,  a  great  wrong  might  be  perpetrated.  It  is  my  opinion  that  only 
by  special  commission  should  Indians  be  recognized  as  citizens,  if  at 
ail,  and  some  action  should  be  taken  to  prevent  a  continuance  of 
the  present  recognitions,  and  I  believe  that  this  would  be  mercy  and 
true  policy  for  the  Indians.  Even  to  acquire  title  to  Government 
land,  I  do  not  think  it  would  be  necessary,  so  far  as  my  observation 
has  gone,  to  grant  rights  of  citizenship.  If  Congress  will  pass  a  law 
to  authorize  such  a  relation  of  trusteeship  as  I  have  recommended,  the 
Indians  may  acquire  safely  what  lands  they  actually  require;  but  the 
rights  of  citizenship  might  make  them  the  easy  tools  of  land  speculators, 
many  of  whom  have  been  known  to  this  Department  to  acquire  titles 
to  public  lands  by  using  white  men  to  enter  lands  fraudulently  for  them; 
and  if  this  use  can  be  made  of  white  men,  where  would  be  the  safety 
for  Indians  ?  It  is  also  true  that,  except  in  rare  cases,  Indians  do  not 
require  for  actual  use  more  than  a  small  tract  of  laud.  When  they  are 
in  unsettled  districts  they  hunt,  tish,  and  roam  about,  and  will  not  set 
tle  in  fixed  habitations  or  ask  for  fixed  areas  of  land  for  individual  use 
until  white  settlements  have  crowded  them  to  the  wall.  Then  it  is  too 
late  for  them  to  pre-empt  land  ;  or,  if  not,  they  require  only  small  home 
steads,  because  their  chief  support  is  in  working  for  the  whites,  not  in 
managing  theirown  estates.  Fixed  habitations,  however,  are  necessary 
to  them,  but  the  title  should  be  vested  in  a  trustee  until  they  become 
advanced  in  civilization.  I  will  suggest  some  of  the  advantages  which,  it 
occurs  to  me,  would  be  in  favor  of  the  trustee  system. 

First.  It  would  not  be  within  the  power  of  unfriendly  local  State  and 
county  officers  to  tax  the  Indians  out  of  their  homes,  which  might  be 
done. 

It  requires  legal  advice  to  preserve  titles  to  lands,  and  the  Indian 
would  be  at  a  disadvantage  before  his  sharper  brothers.  Under  the 
trustee  system  lauds  would  be  assessed,  if  assessed  at  all,  to  the  trustee, 
who,  through  his  agents,  would  collect,  if  required,  a  just  and  equitable 
tax  from  the  Indians,  without  confusing  them  by  a  multiplicity  of  laws. 

Second.  It  seems  to  be  the  rule  that  Indians  die  often  without 
issue.  The  trusteeship  could  be  so  arranged  as  to  keep  their  estates 
out  of  probate  court,  which  would  under  any  other  plan  cause  much 
difficulty. 

Third.  If  a  tribe  should  die  out,  the  lands  granted  them  would  be 
retained  by  the  trustee,  and  could  be  sold  so  as  to  return  to  the  Govern 
ment  some  of,  if  not  all,  or  more  than  the  cost  of  settling  the  Indians. 


13 

Fourth.  The  condition  of  accepting  and  enjoying  the  benefits  of  the 
trusteeship  might  be  made  so  as  to  prevent  incompetent  Indians  from 
applying  for  rights  as  American  citizens,  and  keep  them  under  control 
without  conflict  between  the  agents  of  the  trustee  and  State  authority. 

Perfect  control  and  simplicity  of  government  will  be  indispensable  in 
making  civilized  beings  out  of  Indian  tribes. 

I  will  also  suggest  here  a  few  ideas  in  addition  to  the  report  extracted 
above  concerning  religious  influence  with  the  Indians. 

It  is  an  undeniable  fact  that  to  this  day  the  Bom  an  Catholic  priests 
have  a  strong  influence  over  the  Mission  Indians,  which  influence  might 
be  exerted  for  their  benefit  if  the  Government  would  do  its  duty  by  the 
Indians.  In  examining  this  branch  of  the  subject,  I  found  three  impor 
tant  things  to  consider. 

First.  It  is  claimed  by  some  that  there  is  no  longer  in  the  Boman 
Catholic,  or  any  other  church,  that  energetic  spirit  of  missionary  work, 
that  desire  to  make  proselytes,  that  once  was  the  foundation  of  mission 
ary  successes. 

Second.  That  the  Boman  Catholic  Church  would  not,  "unless  there 
were  money  in  it,'7  again  assume  charge  of  the  Indian  neophytes. 

Third.  The  fact  that  the  church  is  not  now  doing  in  that  section  any 
practical  missionary-work,  excepting  occasional  parochial  visits  of  the 
resident  priests,and  an  occasional  attempt  to  gather  the  Indians  at  a 
least,  in  order  to  keep  alive  respect,  or  rather  fondness,  for  the  church. 

I  visited  Archbishop  Alemauy  at  San  Francisco,  and  consulted  with 
him  on  the  subject.  He  came  to  conclusions  with  the  rapidity  of  one 
who  has  studied  the  matter,  and  had  experience  in  it.  He  said  : 

The  church  cannot  do  anything  for  the  Indians  while  they  are  subject  to  changes 
of  political  policy.  To-day  they  are  roaming  about ;  to-morrow  they  may  be  placed 
on  a  reservation  and  put  in  charge  of  a  Methodist ;  next  day  the  reservation  is  restored 
to  the  public  domain,  and  the  Indians  are  scattered;  again  they  are  placed  under 
special  agency  of  an  Israelite,  and  then  we  may  be  asked  to  aid  the  poor  Indians. 
We  can  do  nothing  with  them  unless  we  have  a  permanent  control,  and  the  Indians 
should  have  permanent  homes,  so  that  our  work  among  them  may  not  be  lost.  Let 
the  Government  buy  a  tract  of  land  suitable  for  them,  at  least  for  those  who  have  no 
homes. 

And  this  is  the  whole  story  as  far  as  it  goes.  In  conversation  with 
Father  Ubach,  at  San  Diego,  and  Father  Verdaguer,  at  Los  Angeles, 
both  of  whom  are  engaged  partly  in  parochial  work  among  the  In 
dians,  but  without  power  to  influence  them  greatly,  it  was  said  to  me, 
after  my  suggestions  had  been  published,  that  if  the  Government  would 
adopt  out  this  proposed  policy,  it  would  not  be  long  before  the  Boman 
Catholic  Church  would  have  schools  and  colleges  for  the  Indians,  and 
would  have  Sisters  of  Charity  among  them.  The  men  would  be  encour 
aged  to  work  and  the  women  to  be  virtuous.  With  such  a  policy  they 
said  they  would  undertake  to  subdue  even  the  Apaches,  and  the  mili 
tary  might  be  dispensed  with. 

I  suggested  to  them  that  I  should  not  recommend  that  the  control  of 
any  given  number  of  Indians,  or  the  exclusive  religious  training,  be 
given  to  any  particular  denomination  of  religious  people  ;  but  that,  hav 
ing  fixed  the  Indians  in  homes,  with  fixed  rights,  an  equal  opportunity 
be  offered  to  all  denominations  to  enter  upon  the  missionary  work  where 
their  own  establishments  and  their  work  might  become  as  permanent 
as  they  are  now  among  any  class  of  their  peculiar  co-worshipers.  It 
would  happen,  of  course,  that  the  work  in  ar^y  particular  locality  would 
principally  fall  under  the  control  of  some  o$£  denomination,  and  in  the 
case  of  the  Mission  Indians  special  invitations  should  be  given  to  the 


14 

Bomau  Catholics  to  benefit  the  Indians  who  have  already  been  taught 
religious  habits  by  them.  Perhaps  also  a  school-fund  for  these  people 
might  well  be  intrusted  to  a  Roman  Catholic  missionary,  who  might 
assume  the  office  of  teacher,  and  thus  aid  might  be  extended  to  the 
mission. 

I  was  told  that  this  plan  would  be  acceptable,  and  that  much  good 
might  be  done  if  it  were  adopted. 

In  looking  at  this  subject,  I  am  led  to  the  church-influence,  not  in  a 
religious  sense  but  with  a  regard  for  public  policy,  as  the  strongest 
and  best  that  can  be  made  available  for  the  benefit  of  the  Indians.  I 
think  that  perhaps  the  church  might  do  much  to  prevent  the  evils  of 
prostitution.  Yet  I  would  limit  my  recommendation,  as  I  have  just  said. 

Bishop  Amat,  of  the  diocese  in  which  Southern  California  is  situated, 
was  absent  in  Spain  when  I  was  at  Los  Angeles,  and  the  acting  bishop 
was  absent  in  San  Francisco,  so  that  I  failed  to  meet  either  of  these  per 
sons.  I  was  told  by  a  priest  in  Los  Angeles  that  Bishop  Amat  has 
given  much  time  and  thought  to  this  Indian  question,  and  has  deter 
mined  at  some  future  time  to  inaugurate  a  mission  system.  He  is  truly 
devoted  to  the  obligations  of  his  office,  and  has  the  cause  of  the  Mission 
Indians  at  his  heart. 

The  views  expressed  by  me  at  San  Diego  and  Los  Angeles  were  given 
freely  to  the  public  for  criticism,  in  order  that  I  might  profit  by  any 
suggestion  offered  by  the  people  living  there,  before  making  final  report 
to  the  Department. 

Those  views,  candidly  expressed,  have  been  received  with  unusual  and 
unexpectedly  great  approbation,  and  in  no  single  case  have  I  seen  an 
adverse  criticism. 

The  San  Diego  Union  of  October  25,  says  : 

The  plan  proposed  by  Mr.  Wetinore  for  the  management  of  these  Indians,  as  out 
lined  in  onr  report  of  bis  conference  with  the  county  officers  last  week,  is  very  warmly 
indorsed  by  all  of  oar  citizens,  and  its  adoption  is  earnestly  hoped  for.  It  is  believed 
to  be  the  first  practical  scheme  for  the  improvement  of  the  condition  of  these  Indians 
that  has  been  presented,  and  no  doubt  is  entertained  of  its  success  if  put  into  opera 
tion. 

After  meeting  the  officials  residing  at  Los  Angeles,  in  the  United 
States  land-office,  October  28,  similar  encouraging  notices  were  pub 
lished.  I  extract  the  following  editorial  from  the  Los  Angeles  Herald  of 
October  29: 

The  views  advanced  by  Mr.  Wetmore,  United  States  special  commissioner  to  the 
Mission  Indians,  at  a  meeting  of  officials  and  other  citizens,  held  yesterday  at  the 
United  States  land-office,  are  decidedly  sound  and  practical,  and  his  plan  of  action  for 
the  protection  and  advancement  of  these  "  wards  of  the  nation,"  if  approved  at  Wash 
ington  and  carried  into  effect,  will  prove  of  service  both  to  Caucasian  and  to  red  men. 

He  very  rightly  opposes  the  doctrine  advanced  by  some,  that  these  Indians  should  be 
granted  the  full  privilege  of  citizenship,  maintaining  that  they  must  still  be  treated 
as  wards,  although  they  are  now  semi-civilized,  as  citizenship  would  only  result  in  the 
debasement  and  final  extermination  of  these  poor  fellows. 

He  is  exactly  right  when  he  says  that  the  red  man  would  be  wiped  out  if  placed  on 
equal  footing  with  his  intelligent  and  refined  white  brother.  The  granting  of  citizen- 
si,  ip  to  the  Indian  would  soon  put  on  end  to  the  vexatious  question,  for  the  result 
would  be  that  in  a  very  short  time  all  these  "wards"  would  be  translated  to  the  happy 
hunting  ground.  This  would  be  a  very  easy  and  not  a  costly  solution  of  the  difficulty, 
and  in  exact  harmony  with  the  bearing  of  Christians  toward  the  American  aborigines 
since  the  day  when  Columbus  first  trod  our  virgin  soil. 

As  the  Indians  are  still  with  us  and  evincebut  little  inclination  to  retire  from  our  genial 
fields,  the  only  policy  is  to  mak*  them  industrious,  sober,  and  profitable  to  the  commu 
nity,  and  this  can  only  be  accomplished  by  treating  them  as  humans,  giving  them  homes 
and  protecting  those  homes  from  the  inordinate  rapacity  of  unscrupulous  whites. 

Mr.  Wetmore  very  practically  suggests  that  small  homes  be  given  to  the  Indians  and 


15 

held  in  trust  for  them  by  some  responsible  party ;  and  also  that  a  general  Indian  ren 
dezvous  be  established,  and  the  Catholics  be  invited  to  establish  a  mission  thereon. 
Even  the  most  enthusiastic  Protestant  will  admit  that  the  Roman  Catholic  Chnrch 
lias  dealt  most  generously  with  the  red  men  and  accomplished  much  good  for  them, 
and  it  is  reasonable  to  expect  that  just  as  much  good  can  be  accomplished  by  them  at 
this  latter  day. 

Let  there  be  a  new  deal,  and  \ve  confidently  predict  that  the  Indian  vagabondage 
which  has  proved  such  a  shame  and  a  curse  will  soon  cease. 

The  entire  report,  printed  in  tbe  San  Diego  Union,  was  translated  and 
published  with  favorable  notices  in  La  Cronica,  a  newspaper  printed  in 
the  Spanish  language  at  Los  Angeles,  a  journal  representing  the  inter 
ests  of  our  Spanish-American  citizens. 

Col.  B.  S.  Peel,  writing  from  Los  Angeles  to  the  Alta  California  on 
this  subject,  says : 

This  lovely  country  was  once  owned  entirely  by  the  ancestors  of  the  Mission  Indi 
ans.  It  supplied  all  their  wants,  and  they  lived  in  peace  and  happiness ;  and  without 
an  act  or  fault  of  their  own,  all  that  they  possessed  on  earth  has  been  niched  from 
them,  and  they  are  now  perishing  on  their  own  laud  in  the  midst  of  strangers.  If  we 
had  conquered  these  poor  creatures  in  a  bloody  conflict,  in  a  war  instigated  by  some 
act  of  cruelty  on  their  part,  there  would  be  some  extenuation  for  our  conduct,  but  we 
have  no  such  excuse.  They  have  ever  been  peaceful,  kind,  and  even  submissive. 
Even  now,  while  they  are  being  kicked  from  door  to  door  by  the  white  man,  they  are 
entirely  submissive,  with  the  picture  of  humility  and  despair  in  every  feature.  They 
are  alllbrokeu  up,  and  wander  around  in  perfect  helplessness.  They  have  the  sympa 
thy  of  a  great  majority  of  the  people,  but  individuals  can  do  nothing  toward  settling 
them  down  in  permanent,  quiet  homes,  where  they  can  be  protected  and  educated. 
The  Government  alone  can  and  must  protect  them  ;  and  should  it  fail  to  do  it  there 
must  come  a  time  when  the  judgment  of  Heaven  will  avenge  their  wrongs. 

We  have  examined  Mr.  We  tin  ore's  plan  proposed  to  be  acted  on  by  the  Government ; 
we  have  given  it  a  great  deal  of  thought,  and  at  present  we  have  no  amendments  to 
offer.  It  is  the  best  we  have  seen. 

The  National  Eepublican,  in  commenting  on  this  subject,  says  : 

The  suggestions  made  to  the  county  officers  and  citizens  of  San  Diego  have  a  more 
than  local  interest  and  significance.  They  apply  almost  equally  to  the  treatment  of 
the  Indians  of  other  sections,  and  outline  a  policy  marked  by  sound  judgment  and 
practical  reasoning. 

I  quote  these  extracts  with  a  view  to  inform  the  Department  of  the 
general  public  sentiment  on  the  subject,  and,  in  case  this  report  should 
be  referred  to  Congress,  for  the  purpose  of  satisfying  members  that  not 
only  is  the  cause  of  humanity  involved  in  this  question,  but  also  the 
interests  of  the  Government  and  the  general  public. 

For  this  same  reason  I  will  submit  copies  of  official  letters,  which 
have  been  sent  to  me,  as  follows : 

DISTRICT  ATTORNEY'S  OFFICE, 

San  Diego,  Cal,  November  23,  1874. 

DEAR  SIR  :  Inclosed  please  find  indorsements  of  your  Indian  scheme  by  county  offi 
cials.  I  think  it  highly  important,  both  for  the  Indian  and  the  white  race,  that  some 
action  be  taken  to  regulate  these  people  and  settle  their  rights.  Police  them  and  make 
an  earnest  effort  to  have  them  self-sustaining.  I  have  just  convicted  the  Indian,  Jesus 
Sordo,  of  murder  in  the  first  degree  for  killing  Johnson  at  Bowlder  Creek,  near  Julian, 
in  1870.  He  will  be  hung  soon.  I  am  now  prosecuting  an  accomplice,  Jose"  Acama  by 
name.  Let  your  plan  be  adopted.  We  are  satisfied  with  it,  and  believe  great  good 
can  be  done  to  the  remnants  of  these  Mission  Indians.  There  should  by  all  means  be 
a  resident  agent  to  carry  out  the  scheme,  with  large  power  to  manage  refractory 
cases.  *  *  * 

I  sincerely  hope  that  Congress  and  the  Department  will  act  promptly. 
Truly  yours, 

A.  B.  HOTCHKISS. 

C.  A.  WETMORE,  Esq. 


16 

SAN  DIEGO,  CAL.,  October  23,  1874. 

DEAR  SIR  :  Having  listened  to  your  plan  for  the  care  and  preservation  of  the  inter 
ests  of  the  Mission  Indians  of  California,  and  having  seen  a  statement  of  the  same 
published  in  the  San  Diego  Daily  Union,  we  most  heartily  and  cheerfully  indorse  the 
same. 

Very  respectfully,  yours, 

A.  B.  HOTCHKISS, 
District  Attorney,  San  Diego  County. 

THOMAS  H.  BUSH, 
County  Judge,  San  Diego  County. 

JAMES  McCOY, 
State  Senator,  San  Diego  County. 

A.  S.  GRANT, 

County  Clerk,  San  Diego  County. 
N.  HUNS  ARE  R, 

Sheriff,  San  Diego  County. 
MARK  P.  SHAFFER, 
City  and  County  Assessor,  San  Diego  County. 

J.  H.  JAMISON, 
Superintendent  Public  Schools,  San  Diego  County. 

ANDREW  CASSIDAY, 

Supervisor  San  Diego  Comity. 
CHAS.  A.  WETMORE,  Esq. 

The  following  letter  is  from  tbe  State  assemblyman  from  San  Diego 
County,  now  appointed  collector  of  the  port  of  San  Diego  : 

SAN  DIEGO,  CAL.,  October  25, 1874. 

SIR  :  After  hearing  you  explain  quite  fully  the  plan  and  suggestions  which  you 
propose  to  report  to  the  Government  in  regard  to  the  Mission  Indians  of  Southern 
California,  I  have  to  say  that  I  heartily  approve  the  same,  and,  so  far  as  I  can  learn, 
they  are  approved  by  every  person  in  the  county  who  is  at  all  conversant  with  the 
subject.  I  particularly  commend  your  idea  of  inviting  the  aid  of  the  Catholic  Church, 
for  the  reason  that  these  Indians  are  Catholics,  and  have  faith  in  the  Catholic  Church  ; 
but  they  have  no  faith  in  the  Government  of  the  United  States,  and  have  abundant 
reason  for  want  of  faith  in  the  latter.  It  matters  not  how  admirable  the  plan  may  be, 
or  how  well  calculated  to  do  justice  to  both  white  and  Indians,  it  will  fail  to  a  great 
extent  unless  the  Indians  can  be  persuaded  that  the  Government  will  deal  fairly  and 
honestly  by  them,  and  secure  to  them  rights  permanently.  However  any  one  of  us 
may  be  prejudiced  against  the  Catholic  Church  or  its  religious  teachings,  all  must  con 
fess  that  it  has  attained  a  degree  of  success  in  handling  and  governing  Indians  that 
has  not  been  approached  by  our  Government  yet. 

I  sincerely  hope  that  your  report  will  be  adopted  by  the  Government  as  a  basis  for 
its  action  in  the  matter,  and  that  action  had  speedily,  thus  avoiding  the  serious  trouble 
that  threatens  this  country. 

Very  respectfully,  your  obedient  servant, 

W.  W.  BOWERS. 

C.  A.  WETMORE,  Esq. 

TEXAS  AND  PACIFIC  RAILWAY  COMPANY, 

ATTORNEY'S  OFFICE,  SAX  DIEGO,  CAL., 

October  24,  1874. 

MY  DEAR  SIR  :  Permit  me  to  say  that  I  have  read  with  great  satisfaction  your  article 
in  the  San  Diego  Union  in  regard  to  the  future  management  of  the  Mission  Indians 
of  this  county.  If  you  can  carry  your  ideas  into  practice,  I  verily  believe  that  you 
will  solve  the  much-vexed  question,  "What  shall  we  do  with  the  Indians?" 

I  sincerely  hope  that  the  Interior  Department  will  take  hold  of  your  plan  in  earnest, 
and  in  good  time  adopt  your  views. 
I  am,  very  truly,  yours, 

C.  P.  TAGGART, 

Member  Republican  State  Central  Committee  for  San  Diego  County,  California. 
Mr.  CHARLES  A.  WEI-MORE, 

Commissioner  to  Mission  Indians,  $c.,  San  Diego,  Cal. 


17 

ROOMS  OF  THE  REPUBLICAN  COUNTY  CENTRAL  COMMITTEE, 

San  Diego,  CaL,  October  23,  1874. 

DEAR  SIR  :  We  heartily  indorse  your  views  with  regard  to  the  treatment  of  the  In 
dians  of  this  county,  and  hope  you  will  be  able  to  carry  out  your  ideas,  believiug  that 
it  will  not  only  be  to  the  advantage  of  the  Indians,  but  also  of  tjie  white  settlers. 
Respectfully,  yours, 

GEORGE  STONE, 

Chairman. 
D.  C.  REED, 

Secretary  Republican  County  Central  Committee. 
Mr.  C.  A.  WETMORE, 

Special  United  States  Indian  Commissioner. 

UNITED  STATES  LAND-OFFICE, 

Los  Angeles,  CaL,  November  9,  1874. 

DEAR  SIR  :  I  have  carefully  considered  your  views  in  regard  to  a  plan  for  providing 
homes,  and  otherwise  providing  for  and  defining  the  rights  of  the  Mission  Indians  of 
Southern  California,  and  heartily  indorse  the  same  as  the  most  feasible  plan  yet  sug 
gested,  to  my  knowledge,  by  which  the  Government  may  discharge  obligations  to  these 
poor  creatures,  without  incurring  the  extraordinary  expense  which  would  be  required 
to  gratify  the  rapacity  of  the  ordinary  agency.  The  economy  of  your  plan  will  cer 
tainly  commend  itself  to  the  favorable  consideration  of  the  Government. 

It  is  apparent  that  you  are  familiar  with  the  character  and  wants  of  these  people, 
and  that  you  have  thoroughly  studied  the  subject.  The  quantity  of  land  which,  in 
your  opinion,  should  be  allotted  to  them  as  sufficient  for  all  their  requirements,  coin 
cides  with  the  views  I  expressed  on  that  subject  in  a  communication  to  the  honorable 
Commissioner  of  the  General  Land-Office,  bearing  date  April  20,  1874. 
Very  truly,  yours, 

ALFRED  JAMES, 
Register  United  States  Land-Office. 
C.  A.  WETEORE,  Esq., 

United  States  Special  Commissioner  for  the  Mission  Indians. 

Ex  Governor  John  Gr.  Downey,  under  date  of  October  10, 1874,  writes 
a  personal  letter  from  Los  Angeles,  in  which  he  says : 

I  am  glad  you  have  been  appointed  commissioner  to  these  poor,  unfortunate,  deserv 
ing,  and  neglected  Indians.  *  *  *  The  Government  has  stood  by  and  sanctioned 
the  robbing  of  the  Mission  Lands  that  were  intended  by  the  Spanish  and  Mexican  gov 
ernments  for  neophytes.  They  have  lavished  millions  on  less-deserving  human  beings 
than  these  docile  creatures.  Now,  in  the  name  of  humanity,  urge  something  in  their 
behalf. 

Having  thus  reviewed  the  whole  subject,  within  the  range  of  my  mis 
sion,  I  hope  that  my  labors  will  result  in  something  practical ;  that  the 
necessary  orders  may  be  issued  to  carry  into  effect  the  surveys  required ; 
and  that  Congress  will  be  asked  to  pass  laws  authorizing  the  proposed 
pre-emption  of  small  tracts  actually  occupied  by  Indians,  by  trustee  in 
their  behalf,  to  authorize  such  trustee  to  act  as  above  recommended, 
and  to  appropriate  sufficient  funds  to  purchase  lands  for  those  that  are 
homeless,  and  that  such  other  action  may  be  taken  as  may  appear  neces 
sary  to  aid  and  regulate  the  now  wretched  remnants  of  a  once  wealthy 
and  prosperous  mission. 

Your  obedient  servant, 

CHAS.  A.  WETMOEB, 
Special  Commissioner  to  the  Mission  Indians 

of  Southern  California. 
Hon.  E.  P.  SMITH, 

Commissioner  of  Indian  Affairs, 

Interior  Department^  Washington,  D.  C. 

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